Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac (25 page)

FEBRUARY 11

1899
F
RANCIS
B
ARRAUD REGISTERS
his painting
Dog Looking at and Listening to a Phonograph,
a portrait of Nipper, his beloved terrier who died four years earlier. The Gramophone Company of London purchases the painting, which will become EMI’s famous “His Master’s Voice” logo.

PUP QUIZ

What breed is each of these famous dogs?

Easy

1.
Snoopy

2.
Lassie

3.
Rin Tin Tin

4.
McGruff

5.
Yukon King

Harder

1.
Santa’s Little Helper

2.
Toto

3.
Checkers

4.
Eddie (
Frasier
)

5.
Spuds MacKenzie

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Marley

2.
Fala

3.
Cujo

4.
Greyfriars Bobby

5.
Asta

1963
S
YLVIA
P
LATH COMMITS SUICIDE
in her flat at 23 Fitzroy Road in London—coincidentally, the former home of Irish poet W. B. Yeats.

HALF BAKED

Answer these oven-related questions that
don’t
involve putting your head in one.

1.
What kind of “oven” is the official state cooking pot of Utah?

2.
What’s the heating element in a Hasbro Easy-Bake Oven?

3.
What basketball player did Danny Ainge nickname “Microwave,” since he heated up so fast?

4.
What kind of clay oven is used to make Indian dishes like naan and chicken tikka?

5.
What 1893 opera ends with the villain being pulled from the ruins of her oven, now turned into a honey cake?

2002
O
RE
-I
DA ANNOUNCES
a new potato product line: Funky Fries, to come in sweetened flavors like Cinna-Stiks and Cocoa Crispers, not to mention Technicolor varieties like Kool Blue. The public manages to suppress its gag reflex but still stays away in droves, and Funky Fries will disappear from shelves the following summer.

THE LOVE OF FLAVOR

What brand-name products come in the following varieties?

1.
Man-O-Mango Berry, Great Bluedini, Rock-a-dile Red, Pink Swimmingo

2.
Herb & Butter, Mexican Style, Country Cheddar, Broccoli Au Gratin

3.
Yellin’ Melons, Cyclone Fruits, Cotton Candy, Sour Blue Razz Berry

4.
Beefy Mushroom, Old-Fashioned Vegetable, Bean with Bacon, Fiesta Chili Beef

5.
Code Red, Live Wire, Blue Shock, Baja Blast

6.
Loaded Baked Potato, Pizza, Chili Cheese, Ranch

7.
Sizzling Cinnamon, Toasted Marshmallow, Buttered Popcorn, Juicy Pear

8.
Bold & Spicy, Roasted Garlic, Thick & Hearty, Smoky Mesquite

9.
Vermonty Python, Chubby Hubby, Neapolitan Dynamite, Karamel Sutra

10.
Blue Raspberry, Green Apple, Fire, Fruit Punch

FEBRUARY 12

1809
A
BRAHAM
L
INCOLN,
who will go on to become America’s first bearded president, is born (clean-shaven) in a Kentucky log cabin.

HAIR FORCE ONE

Can you match these presidents to the facial hair depicted in their White House portraits?

1874
T
HE MOST EXPENSIVE FIRE
in British history guts the London bazaar called the “Pantechnicon.” Because of the furniture warehouses on the premises, and also to confuse Americans, moving vans come to be called “pantechnicons” in the U.K.

HOW THE BISCUIT CRUMBLES

Translate these words and phrases from British English to
real
English.

Easy

1.
Lorry

2.
Lift

3.
Nappy

4.
Zebra crossing

5.
Pram

Harder

1.
Vest

2.
Draughts

3.
Engaged tone

4.
Agony aunt

5.
Braces

Yeah, Good Luck

1.
Spanner

2.
Tipp-ex

3.
Kirby grip

4.
Serviette

5.
Swede

1973
T
HE STATE OF
O
HIO
erects four signs along Interstate 71 listing distances in both miles and kilometers—the first U.S. attempt at metric road signs. They never got around to changing the speed limit signs from MPH to kilometers-per-dekaminute, though.

POWER OF TEN

What’s measured in these metric units?

1.
Kelvins

2.
Candelas

3.
Hertz

4.
Millibars

5.
Watts

6.
Poise

7.
Amperes

8.
Ergs

9.
Newtons

10.
Becquerels